DWCS Season 8, Week 1 results: 4 contracts handed out after night of finishes (2024)

A new season of Contender Series is underway and UFC already has four new fighters under contract.

On Tuesday night, season eight of Contender Series kicked off in Las Vegas, and after five fights, UFC CEO Dana White awarded contracts to Mansour Abdul-Malik, Bruno Lopes, Jose Delgado, and Lone’er Kavanagh, who all picked up big finishes at the UFC APEX.

Abdul-Malik brutalizes Schultz

Abdul-Malik showed why the Xtreme Couture gym is so high on him, as the 26-year-old prospect moved to 6-0 in his career with a brutal stoppage of Wes Schultz in the night’s main event.

Abdul-Malik landed big power punches right from the opening bell, but Schultz’s gameness kept him in the bout and even led to Schultz having impressive moments in the second as he poured out some unorthodox offense that had Abdul-Malik reeling.

Unfortunately, that explosion was the last of his gas tank, and after Abdul-Malik weathered the storm, he turned things around, took the mount, and then finished the bout with some nasty elbows, which earned him a UFC contract.

Hamed outpoints Ding

A former kickboxer, Rami Hamed stepped in on short notice against the most experienced fighter in Contender Series history, Meng Ding, and though he didn’t blow anyone’s socks off, the Lebanese fighter did pick up an important win. Showing shades of Stephen Thompson, Hamed bounced around the cage and outpointed Ding, who couldn’t ever find a rhythm, and even had a point deducted for repeated low blows as he struggled to get to Hamed.

Unfortunately for Hamed, his performance didn’t sway Dana White and he missed out on a contract.

Lopes stops Sazhiniani

Last season, Bruno Lopes entered Contender Series as an undefeated fighter, but less than four minutes later, the Brazilian light heavyweight suffered his first loss against contract winner Brendson Ribeiro. Things were different this time around though, as Lopes overcame a rough start to stop Mikhail Sazhiniani with nasty body shots in the second round of their contest.

Sazhiniani came out strong to start with wild, looping shots that dropped Lopes and put him on the defensive. But in the second round, Lopes hurt Sazhiniani with a knee to the body, and the follow-up shots forced referee Herb Dean to stop the bout and for White to give him a contract.

Jose Delgado ices Ernie Juarez

UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby was high on Jose Delgado as a prospect and everyone saw why on Tuesday night.

Despite taking the fight on short notice, Delgado came out aggressively, putting a strong pace on Juarez with punches, knees, and ground-and-pound. Then, in the second round, Delgado backed Juarez up to the cage and landing a gorgeous stepping knee as Juarez ducked down, immediately slumping his opponent and earning his UFC contract.

Kavanagh delivers dazzling knockout over Ho

Hyped up by Laura Sanko as one of the best prospects she’s ever seen on Contender Series, expectations were sky high for Lone’er Kavanagh, and he somehow exceeded them, scoring a brutal knockout in the first round over fellow undefeated prospect An Tuan Ho.

After a few minutes of feeling each other out, Kavanagh stepped in with a vicious left hook that floored Ho and left him on the canvas for several minutes after the bout. Fortunately, Ho was able to eventually come around and walk out of the cage under his own power, and Kavanagh punched his ticket to the UFC.

Check out DWCS results below.

• Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Wes Schultz via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 3:55
• Rami Hamed def. Ding Meng via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)
• Bruno Lopes def. Mikhail Sazhiniani via TKO (body punches) — Round 2, 4:14
• Jose Delgado def. Ernie Juarez via knockout — Round 2, 1:25
• Lone’er Kavanagh def. An Tuan Ho via knockout — Round 1, 2:35